MERRY Christmas! Peace on earth, and goodwill to all – that’s how the Christmas message goes, and my goodness, do we need to hear it this Christmas season! It is hard to recall, let alone imagine, a time in the last 2000-plus years that the Middle East has been so lacking in peace, so torn apart, as it is today.

We may be safely 13,400 kilometres away, but the same seeds of malice are being...